A Chance to Act With Decency

Gov. George Deukmejian has on his desk two related matters that give him an opportunity to act with decency on behalf of California. Both relate to AIDS and this state’s treatment of the thousands of people who have contracted this fatal disease and the thousands more who will get it.

One measure is a bill that has passed the Legislature and now awaits the governor’s signature. Among other things, the bill (AB 3667) would make it illegal to discriminate against persons with AIDS in employment except where there is a legitimate and demonstrable health risk. All medical evidence shows beyond doubt that in normal social situations, including the workplace, there is no risk of catching AIDS from a person with the disease.

This bill has been endorsed by the California Medical Assn., the California Manufacturers Assn. and the Assn. of California Life Insurers--all sober groups. But the governor is being deluged by the fundamentalist right, which claims that this compassionate measure is the first step to a general gay-rights bill. It isn’t, and Deukmejian should reject their mean-spirited effort to promote their moral agenda in the guise of public health.

The other matter before the governor involves the LaRouche initiative, which seeks to pressure the state to quarantine people with AIDS and anyone else who has been exposed to the virus that causes the disease--which probably includes hundreds of thousands of people. The Republican candidate for senator, Rep. Ed Zschau of Los Altos, has spoken out against this evil proposal, but so far Deukmejian has not. He is said to be studying the medical facts. On this matter, too, we trust that he will do the decent thing.